Page 68 - The Book Thief

introductory passage, it outlined the kind of material to be covered in the

following twenty pages. Types of shovels, picks, gloves, and so forth were
itemized, as well as the vital need to properly maintain them. This grave digging
was serious.

As Papa flicked through it, he could surely feel Liesels eyes on him. They
reached over and gripped him, waiting for something, anything, to slip from his
lips.

Here. He shifted again and handed her the book. Look at this page and tell me
how many words you can read.

She looked at itand lied.

About half.

Read some for me. But of course, she couldnt. When he made her point out any

words she could read and actually say them, there were only threethe three main
German words for the. The whole page must have had two hundred words on it.

This might be harder than I thought.

She caught him thinking it, just for a moment.

He lifted himself forward, rose to his feet, and walked out.

This time, when he came back, he said, Actually, I have a better idea. In his
hand, there was a thick painters pencil and a stack of sandpaper. Lets start from
scratch. Liesel saw no reason to argue.

In the left corner of an upturned piece of sandpaper, he drew a square of perhaps
an inch and shoved a capital A inside it. In the other corner, he placed a
lowercase one. So far, so good.

A, Liesel said.

A for what?

She smiled. Apfel.